Born into an old and distinguished Virginia family, Cabell began writing fiction shortly after the turn of the century, but acclaim arrived only after a controversy developed over the morality of Jurgen. For a decade or more Cabell was extravagantly praised, especially for the attack in Jurgen on American orthodoxies and institutions, in a story replete with sexual symbolism. In the 1930s his mannered style and his philosophy of life and art lost favour.

The 18-volume Works (1927–30) included, in addition to Jurgen,The Cream of the Jest (1917), Beyond Life (1919), Figures of Earth (1921), and The High Place (1923). His imaginary medieval province of Poictesme, the setting of many of his works, did not conceal his skeptical view of human experience. In the 1940s he published three novels set in Florida; Let Me Lie (1947), essays about Virginia; and autobiographical essays, Quiet Please (1952).

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